Ballot finalists for 2024 MLB All-Star Game

Read our story on the balloting format, which includes two phases of fan voting to determine the All-Star starters.

Phase 1 of the 2024 MLB All-Star vote is complete, and the list of potential starting position players has officially narrowed, with two superstar sluggers officially punching their tickets.

Nearly 11 million ballots and more than 155 million total votes were cast before the polls closed on Thursday at noon ET, and results were announced Thursday night on MLB Network. With all the votes tabulated, the Yankees’ Aaron Judge and the Phillies’ Bryce Harper stood out as the leading vote-getters in their respective leagues on the 2024 MLB All-Star Ballot presented by BuildSubmarines.com. That gives them automatic starting spots in their leagues’ lineups for the 2024 MLB All-Star Game presented by Mastercard at Globe Life Field in Arlington on July 16.

For the second time in three years, Judge stands as MLB’s leading vote-getter, after also doing so in 2022. (Last season, the Braves’ Ronald Acuña Jr. got the most total votes, with then-Angels star Shohei Ohtani leading the AL.) Harper — who limped off the field after a game-ending groundout on Thursday night — also clinches his seventh fan-elected starting assignment (second among active players to Mike Trout) and becomes the first Phillies player to win the fan vote at first base since John Kruk way back in 1993.

The other players to top 2.5 million votes in Phase 1 were Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm (3,175,134), Yankees outfielder Juan Soto (3,000,121), Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman (2,791,952), Dodgers DH Shohei Ohtani (2,777,173), Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson (2,664,120) and Padres outfielder Jurickson Profar (2,559,897).

Now the voting will move into Phase 2, which will begin on Sunday. The top two Phase 1 finishers at each position (except NL first base), and the top six outfielders, advance to Phase 2. (However, because Judge already locked up one AL outfield spot, only the next four finishers at that position advance, to compete for two spots.)

Phase 2 of voting will run from noon ET on Sunday (June 30) until noon ET on Wednesday (July 3). The All-Star Ballot will continue to be available exclusively online and via mobile devices at MLB.com/vote, all 30 Club websites, the MLB App and the MLB Ballpark App. Fans may vote once per day during Phase 2, with the daily voting limit resetting each day at 12 a.m. ET.

Winners will be announced on Wednesday live on ESPN at 7 p.m. ET.

Here are the players who advanced to Phase 2 at each position, listed in order of Phase 1 vote total. It’s important to note that vote totals from Phase 1 do not carry over, so everybody starts with a clean slate. (Stats below are through Wednesday’s games.)

Catcher: Adley Rutschman (Orioles), Salvador Perez (Royals)
These two well outpaced the field in Phase 1. Rutschman is looking for a better Phase 2 result than last year, when he came up short against the Rangers’ Jonah Heim. The 26-year-old has been nothing but stellar — and the Orioles have done nothing but win — since he arrived in the Majors in May 2022. The switch-hitter owns a .297/.350/.470 line with 14 home runs, just six shy of his career high from last year, and he continues to be a tremendous pitch blocker behind the plate. Meanwhile, Perez has a chance to become only the ninth catcher to start seven or more All-Star Games and the third to do so in the past 35 years, after Ivan Rodriguez and Mike Piazza. Even at age 34, Perez remains a threat with the bat, with 12 homers and 47 RBIs.

First base: Ryan Mountcastle (Orioles), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Blue Jays)
This would be the third fan voting victory in four years for Guerrero, who is also the defending Home Run Derby champion. Since a slow start to the season, Guerrero has heated up, batting .330 since May 5 and smacking three homers in his past five games, entering Thursday. Will that surge be enough to take down Mountcastle? The 27-year-old is looking for his first All-Star selection of any kind. He’s been a key piece of a robust Orioles lineup this season, with a .278/.324/.471 line that is good for a 129 OPS+.

Second base: Jose Altuve (Astros), Marcus Semien (Rangers)
It’s an all-Texas battle here to see who will start at the Rangers’ home ballpark. These two players also have dominated the fan voting at this position, combining to win it in each of the past three years and seven of the past eight (not counting 2020, when the All-Star Game was canceled.) Semien is the defending winner, but Altuve has a chance to win for the sixth time, in which case he would join Roberto Alomar, Ryne Sandberg, Joe Morgan, Rod Carew and Chase Utley as the only second basemen to reach that total since voting returned permanently to a fan ballot in 1970. He could also join Trout (10), Harper (seven) and Judge (six) as the only active players with six or more at any position.

Third base: José Ramírez (Guardians), Jordan Westburg (Orioles)
It would have to count as a significant upset if Westburg, in his second big league season, were able to take down Ramírez, the five-time All-Star and two-time fan vote winner. However, Westburg does boast an impressive resume, slugging over .500 with 13 homers, 46 RBIs and a 144 OPS+ that trails only Henderson among Orioles. He also has moved around between second base (24 starts) and third base (49). But Ramírez, who hasn’t started an All-Star Game since 2018, has built a strong case of his own. His 21 homers (tied for third in the AL) and 72 RBIs (second) are one reason that a surprisingly dangerous Guardians lineup has helped push Cleveland to MLB’s second-best record.

Shortstop: Gunnar Henderson (Orioles), Bobby Witt Jr. (Royals)
AL shortstop was a strong field, but this pair of young stars stood out above the rest. Henderson turns 23 on Saturday; Witt turned 24 on June 14. Both are in their third MLB seasons, coming off breakout 2023 campaigns and now looking to make the Midsummer Classic for the first time. Both excel defensively at short. Henderson, the reigning AL Rookie of the Year, has been spectacular with the bat for Baltimore and holds a slight lead over Judge for the MLB lead in WAR, per Baseball Reference. He is slashing .288/.387/.618 with 26 homers and 13 steals. Witt has less than half as many homers (12), but is batting .311 with 21 steals and an AL-high 102 hits.

Outfield: Juan Soto (Yankees), Steven Kwan (Guardians), Anthony Santander (Orioles), Kyle Tucker (Astros)
With Judge automatically receiving a spot in the AL’s starting lineup after leading all players in votes during Phase 1, these four will compete to nab the two remaining starting outfield spots for the AL. The choice certainly won’t be easy. Soto, who earned the second-most votes of any AL player behind Judge, is hitting .303 with 19 homers and the third-best OPS (1.001) among qualifying hitters.

After previously being an All-Star for the 2021-22 Nationals and ’23 Padres, Soto could now make it with a different team for the third consecutive season, something only eight previous players have done, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The most recent was Nelson Cruz (2013-15, Rangers/Orioles/Mariners).

Kwan has been scorching hot since his return from a left hamstring strain and owns a .377 batting average with a .988 OPS over 52 games for the Guardians, who have the AL’s best record. He could become the first Cleveland outfielder to win the fan vote since Juan Gonzalez in 2001. Santander is tied for third in the AL with 21 homers and would be the first O’s outfielder to win the fan vote since Adam Jones went back-to-back in 2013-14. Then there’s Tucker, who is currently sidelined with a right shin contusion but has 19 homers and ranks fourth on the AL leaderboard with a .979 OPS.

With the Phase 2 grouping now set, Trout’s incredible streak of 10 straight fan-vote wins has officially come to an end.

Designated hitter: Yordan Alvarez (Astros), Ryan O’Hearn (Orioles)
For the first time since the 2019 All-Star Game, the AL will have a starting DH not named Ohtani, who moved over to the NL when he signed with the Dodgers in the offseason. Advancing to Phase 2 are Alvarez, an AL All-Star reserve in each of the past two years, and O’Hearn, who has a chance to earn his first All-Star selection less than two years after being designated for assignment by the Royals. Alvarez is having another strong year, hitting .288 with 16 homers, 41 RBIs and an .876 OPS over 77 games. O’Hearn has struck out just 24 times in 235 plate appearances this season while hitting .284 with 10 homers and an .810 OPS for Baltimore.

Catcher: William Contreras (Brewers), J.T. Realmuto (Phillies)
Contreras is vying to become just the second Brewers catcher to win the All-Star fan vote after Hall of Famer Ted Simmons (1983) did it more than 40 years ago. The 26-year-old has led Milwaukee to first place in the NL Central this season, appearing in almost every game and slashing .292/.352/.442 with nine homers, 49 RBIs and 56 runs scored. He does have some All-Star starting experience already, having earned the nod at DH for the NL in place of an injured Harper in 2022, when he was a member of the Braves. In Phase 2, Contreras is up against Realmuto, who is currently sidelined after undergoing right knee meniscectomy surgery earlier this month. A one-time All-Star starter (in 2021), Realmuto hit .261 with seven homers and a .720 OPS over 51 games before his injury.

Second base: Ketel Marte (D-backs), Luis Arraez (Padres)
The NL hasn’t had a repeat starter at second base since Chase Utley from 2006-09, and Marte will try to keep it that way in his Phase 2 matchup with Arraez, last year’s starting second baseman for the NL. Marte ranks among the NL’s top 10 with 4.1 WAR and leads primary second basemen with 16 homers (tied for first with Nolan Gorman), 46 RBIs and an .845 OPS (minimum 100 PAs). If Arraez defeats Marte, he’d become the first second baseman in Padres history to win the fan vote, while also joining Soto in the club of players to be All-Stars for three teams in as many seasons, after previously doing so as a Twin (2022) and Marlin (2023). Traded from the Marlins to the Padres in May, Arraez leads MLB with 105 hits and is in the running for his third straight batting crown with a .310 average this season.

Third base: Alec Bohm (Phillies), Manny Machado (Padres)
Bohm received more than 3.1 million votes in Phase 1, dwarfing Machado’s total and ranking second in the NL behind his teammate Harper. With their tallies now reset, we’ll see if the results end up being similar in Phase 2 as Bohm tries to become just the third Phillies third baseman — after Scott Rolen (2002) and Placido Polanco (2011) — to win the fan vote since Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt retired. Bohm is having a career year for a Philadelphia club that owns MLB’s best record, tying for the NL lead with 64 RBIs while slashing .304/.356/.492 with an MLB-best 28 doubles. Machado, meanwhile, got off to a slow start after undergoing right elbow surgery at the end of last season. However, he has looked closer to the Machado of old lately, producing a .325/.372/.460 slash in his past 35 games.

Shortstop: Mookie Betts (Dodgers), Trea Turner (Phillies)
Hitting .304 with 10 homers, 40 RBIs, 50 runs scored and an .892 OPS this season, Betts significantly outpaced Turner in votes during Phase 1. However, Turner might be able to flip the script in Phase 2 after Betts fractured his left hand when he was hit by a pitch on June 15. A two-time All-Star, Turner missed six weeks after straining his left hamstring on May 3, but he has hit safely in seven of his eight games since coming off the IL and owns a .329/.380/.445 slash over 41 games on the year.

Outfield: Jurickson Profar (Padres), Christian Yelich (Brewers), Teoscar Hernández (Dodgers), Fernando Tatis Jr. (Padres), Brandon Marsh (Phillies), Nick Castellanos (Phillies)
It’s been a strange season for NL outfielders, with position changes, injuries and underperformance combining to remove several prominent names from the voting pool. Out of that situation rose Profar, one of the most pleasant surprises of the first half of the season. At 31 years old, Profar is 11 years removed from his time as MLB’s top overall prospect, but he has swung the bat like never before in 2024, leading the NL with a .408 OBP and ranking near the top of the league in several other categories. However, his teammate Tatis is currently on the injured list with a stress reaction in his right leg and is not expected to return until after the All-Star break. If either or both ultimately win a starting nod, it would be the first time for a Padres outfielder since Tony Gwynn in 1999.

Yelich spent 23 games on the IL earlier this season, but when healthy, has played at his highest level since 2019, batting .325/.407/.485 with 16 stolen bases in 55 games. Hernández is making good on the one-year deal he signed with the Dodgers in the offseason, bashing 18 home runs in his first 80 games with L.A. Of the two Phillies outfielders to make it to Phase 2, Marsh has put up the stronger 2024 numbers, hitting .269/.345/.425 with seven homers, eight steals and solid defense.

Designated hitter: Shohei Ohtani (Dodgers), Kyle Schwarber (Phillies)
While Marcell Ozuna is having a tremendous season at the plate for the Braves, Schwarber leapfrogged him for the second spot here after trailing by roughly 60,000 votes at the most recent update on Monday. As usual, Schwarber is crushing the ball in June (.918 OPS, six homers), and the Phillies’ leadoff man has a .375 OBP for the season while leading the NL with 59 walks. Still, it would be a major surprise if anyone could take down Ohtani, who if anything has gotten even better at the plate this season while rehabbing an elbow injury that is keeping him off the mound in 2024. In his debut season with the Dodgers, Ohtani has a legitimate Triple Crown shot, ranking first in the NL in average (.322) and homers (25) and a close third in RBIs (61).